Kittel
Feastday, the 6th of Lumnea, 5109. The Automatic Sentry and Harvester did not quite work as planned. Apparently when farmer Cottle came to harvest apples from the orchard it determined him to be a poacher and began pelting him with the apples it had been harvesting. On the plus side, the village mender announced this morning that the concussion was light and farmer Cottle should be back on his feet in no time. Grizgam and I are uncertain where the failure lies as no one, not even us, have been able to approach the sentry. The villagers have termed it the “Mechanical Demon” and are having a meeting tonight to figure out how to stop it. Personally I find the title offensive in the extreme as Grizgam and I went to great lengths to costume it in a highly friendly manner. Grizgam keeps telling me to be grateful they are blaming sorcerers, as we are already in enough trouble with the Council for repeatedly alerting our presence to the villagers. I remain unconvinced. Restday, the 12th of Koaratos, 5109 Success at last! The Alchemist’s Automatic Apprentice ground a tkaro root almost to a complete powder before the heat from the steam engine melted the dynamic hub. Also in the plus column was the fact that at least the resulting explosion occurred in a seldom-used portion of the old tunnels, so no one was harmed. Biddle Gromwhilst’s workshop did suffer some minor inconvenience in having lost that back wall, but it shouldn’t take long to repair so all in all I consider this test a victory! Tilamaires, the 28th of Koaratos, 5109 As usual, Head Gnome Kanjor refused Grizgam's and my request to help out the severely overworked kitchen. Even with the detailed diagrams we furnished him for several new and, if I say so myself, highly innovative inventions which should revolutionize cooking as we know it, he insisted that the kitchen didn’t need that kind of help. He’s so out of touch. Leyan, the 5th of Phoenatos, 5109 I am planning another foray into the village tonight! I cannot wait, as the last time I did so I heard tales of an astounding creation – an animated cauldron. One of the villagers had just returned from a city known as Whennimar’s Landing, where he had heard from another man about this marvelous, magical invention. While not nearly as functional as the AAA Grizgam and I are still working on, it is a basic functioning unit which mirrors our lifelong work of combining magic with metal! If I could just catch a glimpse of this thing, inspect it for a day, it might clear up several problems we’re having with the AAA and pave the way to our success. I would give anything to be able to talk in-depth with that villager, or better still the one from Whennimar’s Landing, that I might better understand the workings of the thing or at least find out who it belongs to. Drat this life of secrecy we are forced to lead! I do not understand it at all, it is outmoded and highly inconvenient to scientific study! No doubt I will be in for another stern lecture from Grizgam regarding this. I know he means well and is only looking to keep me from further trouble with Head Gnome Kanjor, but I must must must must MUST go into town tonight! And I won’t be discovered this time, as I have filched an invisibility potion from Master Alchemist Deech. What could possibly go wrong? Niiman, the 6th of Phoenatos, 5109 Note to self: Invisibility does not equal silence. At least my working suspension was only for two weeks this time, and the humans, after all, didn’t SEE me. Wynty Rentlemar isn’t speaking to me now because of the “haunted” reputation her tavern has received, despite my assuring her that such reputations frequently increase the commerce of such places. In addition to my normal chores I shall spend the next few nights scrubbing the tavern free of the soot and ash from the incense brazier, and likely do some sewing as I doubt very much those lovely velvet curtains survived the fire. At least it shall help the time to pass. I have every confidence of course in Grizgam’s ability to assemble the basic framework of our newest project without me, but I shall miss the joy of our camaraderie and working together horribly! Tilamaires, the 25th of Phoenatos, 5109 Oh no...Bipple has failed his arvyad’gno! Though Grizgam and I did our best on coaching him in the ways of basic invention theory, I had a premonition that locking him up in a quiet workshop alone for a day was a bad idea. He fell asleep a short while after the test began and doesn’t even remember seeing the parts inside the bag. Now he’s been relegated to cleaning the lower levels of the compound for the rest of his days! Bipple is easily as good with his hands as any gnome in our community, the fact that he is overly fond of a good nap shouldn’t make him useless! Despite numerous appeals by both Grizgam and myself, Kanjor refuses to relent. A pox on that unsympathetic Head Gnome’s fingers that he may never wield a spanner again! The rigid and narrow mindset of gnomes these days is infuriating to me, and clearly a deficit to the growth and overall well-being of our colony! Niiman, the 10th of Imaerasta, 5109 I cannot believe that self-absorbed, overbearing, rice-for-brains Kanjor actually had the gall to tell Grizgam that our inventions are the bane of the compound, and that the only reason our projects were tolerated was because of the potential our innate magical abilities had for the community! And there stood Grizgam, nodding like always and saying nothing in our defense, because it gets rid of Kanjor faster and permits us to resume our work under covert conditions. Ugh! I keep telling Grizgam that he needs to stand up to the Head Gnome and our family and friends, speak out against their preconceived notions regarding invention, theorycraft, and what’s best for our people on the whole, and yet he tells me I need to be less outspoken! I know he has set himself a secret goal to fix that trait in me, but what he doesn’t know is that I intend to not only foil him, but instead fix him to my way of thinking! Hah! Volnes, the 26th of Jastatos, 5109 I am in shock over recent events, but overjoyed as well! There I was, attempting to explain to Forzyg Weethleby that his skin would most certainly not remain puce for the rest of his life, when in strides that pompous windbag of a Head Gnome. It just figures that today of all days he would make exception to his rule of never leaving his armchair before noon, and be down in the storehouses to boot! Of course Grizgam set to trying to smooth things over with both men, but when Kanjor began his usual ranting I decided I’d had enough. Lumnis knows where this idea came from, but the moment I thought of it I knew it was the right thing to do. I gave out a good, shrill whistle to stop their bickering and announced I was leaving the compound for good! For the first time in my life I had the satisfaction of seeing Kanjor at a loss for what to say, though admittedly he recovered quickly and I had not really expected him to be quite as understanding or so full of encouragement as he was. And, bless him, when it became obvious that I meant it and that it was being condoned by the Head Gnome, Grizgam said he would go with me. He is my oldest and dearest friend and I cannot remember a time when we were not working on some kind of invention or idea together. Though it would have broken my heart to leave him I never intended nor would I have asked for him to leave the compound with me, yet now that he has declared it openly and also received Kanjor’s blessings I am thrilled beyond measure. We are leaving as soon as we can gather supplies and making for the very heart of civilization, the penultimate source of scientific learning and magical studies – Whennimar’s Landing! Though neither one of us knows where it is or how to get there, I have assured Grizgam that I should be able to filch a map or two from town. Barring that, how difficult can such an epicenter of culture and learning be to find? And when we arrive, we will not skulk in the shadows nor burrow underground, but instead we shall walk, WALK I say, through the front gates, using streets like other people and making our presences known to the engineering community forthwith! (Though I still intend to pack some digging tools and possibly a climbing harness or two, just in case). Whennimar’s Landing, here we come! ~Kittel Category:Platinum Profiles